Oban My way
by Star Fata
Summary: AU. The title says it all.
1. Chapter 1

**AN This is the start of an Oban story I started typing up eons ago, and it probably won't be updated until February, because I've got a ton of other stories to write. It's AU, and I might not have everything sorted out, but I know how it ends. It has a little of Molly/Aikka at the begining and a little Molly/Jordan towards the end. I'll probably end up writing two endings, one for each couple. Koji/Oc most of the way. And I've edited this chapter a bit since I put up chapter three.**

The Beginning 

Molly Evans, formerly known as Eva Wei, sighed in relief as she finished brushing her hair. She wondered if her father knew that she'd escaped from Stern Boarding School yet…

His secretary probably hadn't told him about all those 'hoax' calls from 'that school'. So no. She was safe.

"Hey Lucky, hurry up." She called. "We have to go to work!"

Her 'sister', Lucky Evans came out of her own room, smiling as usual.

She was pale, like Molly, and her eyes were the same eerie crimson. However, that was where all resemblance ended. Lucky had sharp, distinct features. Her face was heart shaped while her hair was a vibrant yellow that shone through every hair dye known to man, and she kept it at shoulder length. She was curvier than Molly, and about three inches taller. Many people said that she was the more attractive of the two, but Molly had the most admirers, simply because of her attitude.

She wore a white vest top, and black combats. Her trademark bandana hid some of her hair, but served a more practical purpose. It kept her hair out of her face when she was working at the local tattoo parlour. She made the needles, and made sure that all equipment was sterile, and that the entire place was clean enough to pass a surprise inspection from the health authority.

Lucky was also an escapee from Stern Boarding. She was almost two years older than Molly, but they had been best friends since they had met, on Lucky's seventh birthday. She had been waiting for her father to call, and had been close to tears when an older boy had made fun of her. She'd almost wet herself laughing when the new girl, a tiny five year old, hit the on button on the auto waxer he was leaning on.

He'd come out alive; the only thing injured was his ego, and his reputation. His clothes were covered in floor wax, and his shoes would never be the same again.

Eva had stayed with her well into the early hours of the morning, comforting her when she realised that her father hadn't called, and probably wasn't going to. He was always too busy; he was a politician.

Lucky's real name was Yuki, which meant snow in Japanese. However, Lucky was the name that she had chosen, saying that she was lucky to have escaped, and that Snow was a dumb name.

She was a great hacker, and had created two personas for them. They had decided that they were sisters from Tokyo, who had left due to family reasons. Molly was being home schooled, as she had to work, and Lucky was taking an online course in computing.

Molly had dyed the top of her midnight black hair red, and had two tattoos on her face. One was of a star, one was a rectangle. Her hair was a little less than halfway between her ears and her shoulders, and she had three studs in her right ear, and one in her left. Her wardrobe mainly consisted of hunter green t-shirts and olive green combats. She wore her mother's goggles proudly on her head, and gloves up to her elbows. There was a music player on her 'skirt bag', which held several tools as well.

"Come on Lucky." Molly said, smiling. "I'll give you a lift."

"You mean, you'll take me to the garage so I can pick up my car?" Lucky giggled slightly.

Molly nodded, and walked out of their rented apartment, towards her beloved rocket seat. She'd built it herself, and it had helped her to escape from Stern, and to cause enough of a diversion for Lucky to escape as well.

Ten minutes later, the two girls parted ways so that neither of them would be fired.

As Molly worked on the latest 'sports' car to be carelessly crashed by a snob with money, her boss came in to the garage.

"Hey Andy." She greeted. "Is there a problem?"

Andy shrugged. "I just got a call from my brother. His wife just gave birth to twins, and his boss is giving him hell because he's not at work. I was thinking that you could cover for him for a few days. You'll have to camp out somewhere overnight, but I could pay for that."

Molly contemplated this. "Where does he work?"

"In Tokyo, he's the head mechanic at Wei Racing."

Molly's heart skipped a beat. "I'll have to talk to Lucky sir, but I should be able to take his place for a week or so." She forced out. "And if we do go, you won't have to pay. We'll find a lay by or something."

Andy smiled gently at the girl. "Well, if you do go, be careful. You might be the best mechanic I've ever had, but you won't be the best when it comes to Star Racers. Fifth best maybe, but not the best."

Molly smiled. "Don't worry Andy. By the way, what are their names?"

Andy blanched.

"What are your brother's family's names?" She asked.

Andy grinned. "My brother's name is James, his wife is called Maria, and their two fine babies are Anne and Eva."

Molly grinned inwardly. "Lucky could use the vacation. If she agrees, I'll be in Tokyo by tomorrow."

'And if he doesn't recognise me, I'll know that I'm better off without him.' Molly thought, turning back to the car.

When her lunch break finally rolled around, the fifteen year old ran as fast as she could towards Tatt Cat's Parlour. She reached it just as Lucky stepped out for her own break.

"Lucky!" She yelled.

Lucky whipped around in surprise.

"Molly? What on earth are you doing here?"

Molly quickly outlined what was going on.

"So, what do you say?" She finished.

Lucky thought for a moment. "We should go. I'll go pack, and warn the landlord."

Molly sighed; she knew that meant that Lucky thought that they had been in one place for too long. Either that, or she was just being cautious.

"Should I warn Andy?" She asked.

Lucky ruffled Molly's hair. "Just let him know that there's a small chance we won't come back."

And with that, the two girls parted ways again.

LATER THAT DAY

Lucky put the last of their things in her car, Traveller.

"You'll ride your rocket seat, okay Molly?" She asked, just to make sure.

Molly nodded.

"Oh, that reminds me. Happy Sixteenth Birthday sis." Lucky smiled, passing her sister a dress.

Molly gasped. The dress was similar to the one her mother wore when she raced "Thanks Lucky." Molly breathed. "I'll put it on later."

Lucky's smile softened at the look of absolute awe on her sister's face. "I'm glad you like it."

They had decided to bump up Molly's age a year, and to put on her schooling report that she had only recently discovered that she had a severe case of dyslexia, and before it had been discovered she had fallen behind in her schoolwork. They had also made it so that her birthday was a day later than her real birthday.

"Come on, let's go." Molly said, carefully putting her jacket in the car. She knew, somewhere in amongst her clothes, were birthday presents, in case she couldn't afford them at a later date.

Lucky nodded, and they set off for Tokyo.

It was late at night by the time Lucky pulled over for a rest, deciding that the deserted road that they had taken was as good a place as any to spend the night.

Molly shook her head at her sister, who was almost asleep. "Lucky!" She yelled.

Lucky started. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to keep going, we'll need fuel for Traveller, and we don't have enough for both of us to get to Tokyo." She explained. "I'll be careful!"

Lucky gave Molly a thumbs up, and began making security preparations, like putting up the hood of the car, locking it down, and locking the doors, before settling down in the drivers seat.

WITH MOLLY

It had been relatively easy to find and buy fuel, so Molly was speeding back to her friend. Much to her surprise, she was behind two trucks, and a crog. Her natural pilot instincts kicked in, and she flew into the woodland, so that she would be higher up than the trucks.

She looked forward to see where would be the best place to take flight, and saw a large, acorn shaped building, floating in the air. It's bottom split, to release a beam of some sort. The first truck was almost there, the second one lagging behind a little. The building was pulling up the Traveller.

Molly forced herself to be rational. It simply meant that she was taking a slight detour to get Lucky back.

Suddenly, she realised that a crog had broken through the roof of the second truck, and was strangling the driver. Well, that was just plain rude…

Molly grinned as she threw herself off the ridge, ramming the Crog off of the truck, and then having to hold on to the railing of the truck for dear life, while still holding on to her rocket seat.

She laughed as the truck entered the light, and the temporary weightlessness took her, but this turned into a scream as she felt herself disappearing.

Then, everything went black.

When she awoke, there was a bright light in her face, blinding her.

"What the hell?" She grumbled.

The light was lowered. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" A man asked, sharply.

Molly blinked, trying to get rid of the spots that were blurring her vision. "That depends, where is here?"

"Just answer the question young man!" The man snapped.

"Are you completely blind?" Molly asked, incredulously. "My name is Molly, and I'm a girl."

She still couldn't see the man who had insulted her, so she just stood up. "Did you happen to see a girl with long blonde hair, or a green Fowler?"

The man was about to answer when the world shook, and Molly fell off whatever they were standing on.

She screamed, confident that she was about to die. Her eyes snapped shut for a moment, and she only opened them when she felt two arms catch her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw someone who looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember him for the life of her.

"Careful Little Mouse." The man chuckled, placing her on the ground.

She blinked in surprise. "Hey, I can see again!"

There were three laughs; one from the guy who'd caught her, two from elsewhere. The two guys wore mechanic overalls, and standard working boots. There was another guy near them, scowling at her. He had dual coloured hair, thick eyebrows and was wearing a uniform that vaguely reminded her of the ones that Tyson's Military School boys wore. He was holding a gun, which practically confirmed this theory.

"Let me guess, you're a Ty boy." She drawled, looking around the room.

He growled in response. "If you're looking for an escape, you're not going to find one, spy!"

Molly rolled her eyes. "I thought so."

The bumper of a green Fowler 2080 caught her eye. Running towards it, she banged on the windows loudly.

Lucky woke up with a start as the alarms went off. Turning them all off as fast as possible, she rolled down her window.

"Hey Molly, did you get the fuel?" She greeted.

Molly nodded. "There's one slight problem though."

Lucky's smile slipped. "What?"

Molly moved out of her view, allowing her to see the five males, two trucks and the building.

Lucky sighed. "Whatever's happened, I blame you."

Molly burst out laughing, and turned to face the men.

"What has happ.. pened?" she asked, stumbling as she realised who the guy with the torch was.

It was her father. He didn't recognise her.

"Well, since you're here anyway…" Don Wei grumbled.

Ten minutes later, the girls had been told everything they needed to know.

"Let me get this straight." Lucky sighed. "You're Don Wei, and you're a racing manager. You're heading for another planet to take place in this major important race to save earth."

Don Wei nodded. "And I expect you two young ladies to earn your keep. We are here as ambassadors, and I do not want you to ruin this for us."

Lucky glared at him. "As if."

Molly turned to the other four. "Hi, I'm Molly, this is my sister Lucky, what are your names?"

Don Wei interrupted them before they answered. "There's no time for pleasantries, we have to unload our equipment."

Lucky swung herself back into Traveller, as Molly hunted for her rocket seat.

All of a sudden, the building opened again, and a small creature stepped in.

"Hello, I am Setis, the Avatar's servant." He said, smiling. "I've never seen ships from Earth before, they're beautiful." He said, nodding at the trucks.

Lucky laughed. "Those are just the trucks, the racers are inside."

The army boy glared at the girls, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'traitor'.

Setis looked inside. "Ah, flying cushions. Good, you won't get hurt."

Molly smiled. "The racers are under the sheets, the sheets just keep them clean." She explained. "Setis, do you know where we're supposed to go?"

Setis nodded, and led them to their hangar.

Rick looked at the young girl riding her rocket seat alongside him. 'This is the girl who saved me from the Crog? Little Mouse is tougher than she looks.'

As they settled into the hangar, there was a small dispute about the sleeping arrangements.

"Molly, you and Jordan will have to share. Lucky, you can sleep in the pit." Don Wei ordered.

Lucky shrugged. "Okay."

Molly shook her head vigorously. "No way."

"Molly, now is not the time to argue. You are merely a surprise, and I hate surprises!" Don yelled.

The shock on Molly's face was enough to make Rick wonder why those words had hurt her so much.

Then it was gone, and she opened her mouth to yell right back at him.

"We do not have to keep you two here. We could just throw you out, and we should. You're lucky we're here as ambassadors, or both of you would be gone." Don said, coldly.

Sensing a riot forming, Lucky stood up and turned to the boys. "You know, I swear that I've heard of you before, but I can't remember where." She said offhandedly, looking at Rick.

He looked surprised for a moment. "Well, I was a pretty famous racer before I decided to leave Wei racing." He stated.

"I don't follow racing, it's too hard if you don't have a TV. Molly does, but she works as a mechanic, so it's a little easier for her." Lucky cut him off. Then she snapped her fingers. "That's it! Your name used to come up in almost all of Molly's rants."

Molly blushed. "I don't rant anymore."

Rick looked amused. "My name came up… why?"

Lucky stalked over to Traveller, and rooted around for her music player. When she found it, she pressed play on the tape.

Molly's voice came floating out of the speakers. "Honestly, I'm not sure which is more pathetic." She ranted. "The fact that that he passed his driver's test, and that he thinks crashing his car sixteen times so far makes him 'cool', or the fact that his dad keeps paying for the repairs!"

"How long has he had his licence?" Lucky's voice asked.

"Six weeks. Honestly, he thinks that a leather jacket and a fast car makes him Rick Thunderbolt!"

Lucky turned off the music player, satisfied that she'd distracted everyone successfully.

Stan and Koji were in shock.

"He crashed how many times in a month and a half?" Stan said, incredulous.

"Sixteen." Lucky answered.

Rick looked bemused. "How is that even possible?"

"He crashed on the way to the garage as well. And as he entered." Molly explained. "He kept us in business for a while. The guy who'd had the job before me was a little bitter about being replaced by a fifteen year old girl."

"So, since we've kept you entertained with horror stories straight from Andy Eerin's auto services." Lucky grinned. "You tell us your names, and we'll find something to do."

The gunner boy let out a snort at the abrupt change of subject. "I'm Jordan, the gunner."

Lucky looked him over. "A Ty boy?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"I'm Stan, and this is Koji. We used to work for Miguel." Stan said, grinning.

Molly nodded in recognition. "The joint second best of Star Racer Mechanics." She explained to Lucky. "The best, I don't know."

Koji smiled. "Yes you do. You work for him."

Molly's eyes widened. "Worked. I have to call him and resign."

"So, what can we do to help?" Lucky asked.

Stan looked at the Whizzing Arrow 1 and frowned.

"We lost some fuel in the rush after the crog attack. I don't know what you can do about that though…"

"Hey, didn't you get some fuel for us Sis?" Lucky asked.

Molly nodded. "But the stuff I got would be incompatible, seeing as it's only grade three domestic fuel. We need grade two rocket fuel."

Lucky blanched. "Okay. I saw a store on the way here, maybe they have whatever we need?"

Molly started her rocket seat. "I'll go look. Anyone have any money?"

Don shoved a small bag at her and ordered her not to spend it on herself.

She rolled her eyes. "As if. All my stuff's already here."

And with that, she sped off, dodging a truck of some sort as she left.

Rick looked at Lucky in confusion. "Was she kidding?"

Lucky shook her head. "We were headed to Tokyo for at least a week, and we decided to take our things with us." She explained. "Everything we own is in the Traveller."

Don Wei was gone again, but the others looked at the car in shock.

Lucky growled as she noticed this. "Don't judge us. Don't pity us. Don't make a big deal over nothing."

And with that, she began to look for her laptop. If she couldn't find it, it would be really hard for Molly to apologise to Andy.

Koji walked over hesitantly. "Sorry, we didn't mean to upset you. It's just the way you said that, it's as if you don't have parents."

Lucky continued searching. "We don't. And we're better off that way."

Koji sighed and went back to work. There were a few adjustments needed, and then they could all just head to the race.

Rick walked over to the blonde female. "Hey."

She barely glanced back. "What do you want?"

"Just curious." Rick said. "Your sister, has she had any flying lessons?"

Lucky shook her head in the negative. "Why do you ask?"

Rick looked at the blonde as she let out a cry of triumph and pulled out her laptop.

"Then, she's really somethin'." He said, finally.

"She's got fuel in her veins." Lucky said; smirking at the bemused look he shot her.

She followed the others to the race, leaving a note for Molly. They hadn't thought of the younger girl, but she had.

Molly arrived back at the hangar a mere ten minutes after the others had left.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" she called, before realizing that the hangar was shut tight.

"Oh, you so did not lock me out." She grumbled, looking for some sign of the Earth team, a white piece of paper catching her eye.

She half laughed, half groaned as she read it.

_Molly Nokomis Victoria Evans AKA 'Little Mouse', 'Little Star', 'Sis',_

_Hey, guess who? Yep, it's me. We're at the race, so get your rocket seat, the fuel and yourself over here._

_Try not to get into a life or death situation._

_Love, the wonderful, talented, beautiful, modest person you call your sister_

_Lucy Emmelyn Yvonne Evans AKA Lucky Evans_

_PS, hope you don't mind that I used our full names._

Molly was the name she chose because she liked the sound of it, and the meaning was 'bitter one', or 'bitterly wanted child'. It was also a nickname for girls called Maya. Nokomis was a Native American name, meaning 'daughter of the moon'. Victoria was her grandmother's name, and according to Lucky, it meant 'one who is victorious'.

Lucky had simply wanted the name most like lucky, so she picked Lucy. It meant 'Light.' Emmelyn was a form of Emma, which was her mother's middle name. It meant 'healer of the universe'. Yvonne meant archer, but was really chosen for the fact that Molly had chosen the name Evans to keep her real initial in her name, somewhere.

It was hilarious when the girls had to use their full names.

Unless there was a tiny chance of a cute boy reading it, and for all she knew, there could be a potential love interest on this planet.

She laughed at herself for that. "As if!" She chuckled.

Folding the note carefully, she put it in her skirt bag. She had a race to watch.

She decided to walk there, and regretted that decision as she accidentally bumped into several people, reacting with a combination of shock, horror and embarrassment, before getting caught in a crowd.

As she stumbled to her knees on the other side, someone asked her if she was all right.

Looking up, she saw a boy, no older than her, with dark tanned skin, completely blue eyes, and sticking out ears. She recognised him as Naurasian, which meant that he was allied with the Crogs.

Still, he was cute, until he opened his mouth again.

"Aren't you a little young to be out without parental supervision?" He asked.

Molly stood up and roughly brushed herself off. "Don't you need parents for that? Anyway, where's your babysitter? You can't be much older than I am."

"Chaperone." He corrected, amused. "And you're probably right, at least in earth years…"

"Prince Aikka!" A voice yelled.

The boy looked chagrined. "That's my chaperone, Canaan. Goodbye."

"Good bye Aikka." Molly said. "Good luck in your race."

As she scanned the seats for the Earth team, she completely missed the shocked look that Prince Aikka shot her.

"Hey, Stowaway girl!" Jordan yelled, followed by a cry of pain. Lucky must have hit him.

Molly laughed and flopped down between them. "The name's Ev… It's Molly, got that?"

Lucky shot her a look of confusion. It wasn't like her to slip up.

"Sure, whatever." Jordan said, completely oblivious.

"Hey Koji, is this okay?" Molly asked, passing him the fuel.

"Sure Molly, it looks good." He said, smiling.

Just then, the Avatar appeared.

"Let the race begin." Lucky muttered under her breath, unaware that Molly was doing the same next to her.

Jordan looked at the two girls and shuddered. There was something not quite normal about them.

Once the Avatar was done with his speech, the racers were introduced.

"Hey, it's the prince." Molly noted, looking interested.

Lucky looked at the racers, just as Aikka looked up and saw Molly. He smiled at her, and she smiled and waved back.

"He's with the Crogs Molly." Jordan exclaimed, disgusted.

"Correction, his kingdom is allied with the Crogs. Don't judge the world by one person, or one person by their world." Molly stated, making Lucky grin. "Besides, I think he's kinda cute."

Jordan spluttered in indignation, while Lucky laughed at the gunner.

"Hey Molly, I'm glad to see that the philosophy elective is coming in handy." She whispered, smirking.

Molly shrugged and watched the race.

"Looks like your prince is gonna get squashed, with his pet bug. Heh, just like he should." Jordan said, smugly.

"He must be a pretty good racer to have been sent here." Molly pointed out. "And it's not over until the finish line is behind you."

"Hey, don't ruin perfectly good philosophy by translating it into racing." Lucky admonished.

Molly ignored her in favour of watching Aikka win the race, cheering with the rest of the crowd when he did so.

"Traitor." Jordan scowled.

Molly shook her head, and dragged Lucky to her feet. "Come on, we need to quit our jobs."

Aikka searched the stands for the earth girl who had called him Aikka, seconds after learning he was a prince. To his immense surprise, he felt disappointed when he saw her leaving with another human girl.

He shook his head. He'd barely spoken to her, he shouldn't care whether she was there or not.

AT THE HANGAR

"Hey Andy, it's me."

"Molly! I was worried when you didn't call, that's not like you!" Andy exclaimed.

"Sorry Sir."

Andy frowned. "Sir? You haven't called me that since I hired you!"

"Sir, I can't work for you anymore. And due to unforeseen circumstances, I can't cover for James either." Molly explained, desperately trying not to cry. She had loved working for Andy; he was like the father she'd wanted since she was five years old.

Andy looked at the young girl carefully. "Well, I suppose that I can afford a decent mechanic, especially with all the extra business that you brought in. I'll miss you Little Star."

Molly smiled weakly. "I'll miss you too. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused."

Andy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Trouble?"

"With James, and with Takao. I'm so sorry." Molly explained, a tear falling. "And now you're going to have to go short staffed until you can hire a new mechanic…"

"Don't worry about it." Andy smiled. "We brought in a rookie to cover for you. He needs the experience for his engineering exams, so he decided to earn money at the same time. He'll do until we can bring in a professional. James will be okay; his boss took unexpected leave, and left a guy with a heart in charge until he gets back. And I was glad to see the back of Takao, so don't worry about the trouble he caused. He was just bitter about being fired."

Molly still looked downcast. "Thanks Andy. Maybe I'll see you around one day."

"Maybe. Good luck to you Molly."

"Good luck to you too Andy."

She cut the connection, and walked over to the Traveller, swung herself into it and wound up the windows.

Lucky shook her head at her sister. Judging by the sudden disappearance of her laptop, Molly was going to try and do schoolwork. Which was really not like her. Which meant that her little sister was hurting, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

Sighing, Lucky called 'Tatt Cat' and resigned. She took it surprisingly well, saying that she remembered everything Lucky had taught her about health and safety, and she could probably teach it to a new kid. Lucky knew better, Tara would be going crazy after five minutes with a new kid, because no one was better at keeping things clean than the OCD girl.

Lucky stared at Molly for a few seconds, before deciding to just talk to Stan and Koji. They were in their twenties, and therefore bound to have something in common with her…. or at least, they wouldn't be as weird and paranoid and biased as Jordan was. Otherwise, she would go insane.

"Hey guys." She greeted.

They both sent her a wary glance. "Hey." Stan said, hesitantly.

Lucky didn't allow her smile to falter. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier. And since I'm stuck here until the preliminaries are over, I wanted to make a fresh start."

Koji grinned at the blonde. "Okay. Tell us about yourself, we could probably kill some time that way."

Lucky raised her eyebrows at the boys. "Are you sure you want to know about me? I'm not really that interesting…"

Stan shrugged. "It'll kill some time."

Lucky smiled, and told them the lies that she and Molly had created three years before, but focusing on the things that weren't lies.

"Our parents were never there, so we decided that if they didn't care, we didn't either." She began. "We ran away, and just kind of drifted from place to place after that. I've worked as a cleaner mainly, using my biggest problem as an advantage. I have OCD; I can't stand anything not being clean. Untidy, I can handle, dirty, stand back, girl armed with disinfectant and a mop coming through!"

The two boys smiled.

Encouraged, Lucky continued. "I worked at a supermarket in the first town, a pizzeria in the second, a hotel in the third, and my last job was at a tattoo parlour. The same tattoo parlour where Molly got her ears pierced, and naturally, her tattoos. I help Molly with her schoolwork, and I'm working on a scholarship to MIT. Computer Science, because computers to me are like what vehicles are to Molly." Lucky smiled. "It just makes sense, even the stuff I know is supposed to be really complicated."

Koji and Stan nodded. They felt the same about Star Racers, or at least the mechanics of them.

Stan glanced at Molly. "I didn't mean to, but I heard some of the conversation that Molly had with Eerin."

Lucky nodded. "And?"

"They said 'good luck' instead of 'goodbye'. What's with that?" He asked.

Lucky considered it. "I don't know. I know for a fact that neither of the parents told her goodbye, and I can't think of a real, concrete reason why she would hate that word. She just never ever says it, and no one who's known her for more than a week would say it to her."

Koji nodded contemplatively. "She'll tell you when she's ready. So, what do you think of the Trantyla Program?"

Stan rolled his eyes as he walked away. He was the hardware specialist of the mechanic tag team. Koji was the computer and navigation specialist. Pausing outside of the Traveller, he looked at Molly. She seemed like a sweet kid, underneath the attitude. Smiling slightly as he looked back at the two computer experts, he knocked on the door.

Molly looked up from her notes on Romeo and Juliet. "Yeah?"

Stan pulled the passenger door open. "Hey."

"What's up?" Molly asked, looking back at the screen and trying to decipher one of the words she had typed up sometime last week.

"Nothin'" Stan answered. "Check out Lucky and Koji."

Molly did so, and grinned. Her sister was leaning towards Koji slightly, even though she didn't realise it. The two were talking animatedly, and although they were arguing, it didn't look like an argument. It looked like a friendly debate.

"My dad's Miguel. He took Koji on part time when he was thirteen. I was fifteen back then, and I kind of adopted him as my bro." Stan informed her. "In all that time, he has never had a serious relationship. Never wanted a relationship point blank."

"Your point?"

"I think that's going to change."

"So do I." Molly said, grinning. "Stan, could you tell me what this word is?"

Stan looked over her shoulder. "Mercutio dash deceased. Killed by Tybalt. A victim of fate."

"Thanks." Molly smiled. "I'm not very good at reading, and Lucky's busy."

Stan laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN This is the start of an Oban story I started typing up eons ago, and it probably won't be updated until February, because I've got a ton of other stories to write. It's AU, and I might not have everything sorted out, but I know how it ends. It has a little of Molly/Aikka at the begining and a little Molly/Jordan towards the end. I'll probably end up writing two endings, one for each couple. Koji/Lucky most of the way.**

**Plus, I've changed Jordan's character a little, at least in the way he reacts to Molly and Lucky. I'll try to keep certain things the same as the series, but no promises. Molly's changed a little too, but that's because she has someone to rely on now, and she's seen good things and bad things since she and Lucky left boarding school. For her, life is going to work, paying the rent, packing up and moving on when necessary, and living on a tight budget. It'll take a while for her to adjust to being in a new environment where she isn't 100 in control of her life.**

**I'll try to make the chapters longer than this one. It just seemed right to end it where it was.**

Molly left the older kids and walked towards the room she was to share with Jordan. She froze as she heard her father and Rick talking.

"Rick, be careful out there." Don said, concerned. "I don't want you to get hurt out there."

Molly put a hand to her mouth, willing herself not to cry out loud. Every word he spoke felt like a thousand daggers piercing her heart. He sounded like a father, but he was talking to Rick. Not her, Rick.

"Cut it Don Wei." Rick spoke. "I know you too well. You don't care about me; you just want me to win the race. Nothing else. Don't worry; I'll win this. Piece of cake."

"Very well."

Molly felt tears prick her eyes, and forced them back, Don's earlier words echoing in her head.

'_You are nothing more than a surprise, and I hate surprises!'_

"Well well. Look who we have here." Rick's teasing voice snapped her out of her trance. "Eavesdropping Little Mouse?"

Molly pulled herself together sharply. "Not intentionally." She grinned cheekily.

Rick raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change. "Sure…." He drawled, ruffling her hair.

"In case I'm not here," Molly began. "Good luck in your race."

"Thanks. But I'm not racing until tomorrow." Rick said, starting to walk away.

"I know. I thought I might go for a walk." Molly called after him. "I might not be back in time to wish you luck." Then she walked into her room, closing the door gently.

Rick smiled at the door. 'Little Mouse is going to make things interesting around here.'

As she hung up a hammock, Molly was desperately trying to regain her grip on reality.

After making sure that the door was shut, she sank down against it.

'Okay, get it together Molly. He didn't recognise you, so you're better off without him. Just like you decided in Lansing.' She told herself. This theory worked for about thirty seconds. 'That was when I thought I'd there with him for a week max. I'm stuck here until the prelims are over!' She yelled inwardly. 'And I want him to find out who I am. So I'm going to feel like _this_ for ages.'

Molly groaned. "I think I'll go on that walk now."

Standing up, she opened the door and stormed out of the hangar, past the older teens.

"Molly!" Lucky yelled. "Where are you going?"

"Walk. I'll be back late." Molly called over her shoulder.

Lucky rolled her eyes. "Don't get lost or I'll kidnap 'Romeo and Juliet'."

"I won't." Molly called, waving. She still hadn't turned around.

Lucky stared at her retreating form. "Sisters…."

WITH MOLLY

The second Molly had walked part way down a hill and knew that she could no longer be seen from the earth team hanger, she let her legs give way and stared at the horizon blankly.

She vaguely noted that the sun was starting to set, and that it would be dark in a few hours. At least it would if Alwas days were the same as Earth's. Then she let herself sink into her memories, forcing herself to relive everything, good and bad.

AT THE HANGAR

Koji glanced at the sky. "She's been gone for a while."

Lucky nodded. "Two hours thirty five minutes."

Koji looked at the female. "You're not worried?"

Lucky smirked slightly. "Sorry, but you don't know my sister. She might have a habit of getting in over her head, but she hasn't gone far. She needed to think, and wanted us to think that she was out on a walk. She's in five minute walking range, just out of sight."

"How can you be sure?" Koji asked.

"We're not sisters." Lucky said. "We're more than that. We've been best friends since I was seven and she was a little younger."

Koji nodded, not realizing she had neglected to use the word 'just'.

"I'll give her another hour before I go looking for her." Lucky decided, before reaching into the Traveller. "Do you think Don Wei would mind if I unpacked?"

Jordan looked out at Alwas. "Probably. But not too much, if you're careful where you put your things. Are you sure Molly will be okay?"

Lucky smirked again. "You don't know my sister." She repeated.

WITH MOLLY AGAIN

As the image of her first meeting with Andy faded away, Molly began to stir from her near catatonic state. The first thing she noticed was that it was dark. The second things she noticed was that her eyes really hurt.

Rubbing them, she concluded that she had forgotten to blink. "Gotta stop doing that." She mumbled.

"Stop doing what?" A calm, slightly accented voice asked.

Molly jumped about six feet in the air as she jumped to her feet and whirled around.

"Prince Aikka?" She asked, blinking rapidly.

He nodded, stood up from his seat on the grass, and bowed. "I am sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier."

"Sorry." She answered, blushing. "Um, how long have you been there?"

Aikka smiled. "A while. You did not respond to me when I passed, and I decided that it would be best to be here, in case you were found by an enemy of Earth's."

He looked at her in amusement. "Is it normal for humans to become living statues?"

Molly bristled inwardly. "It is for me. I just don't do it that often." She decided.

Aikka raised his eyebrows. "May I escort you to your hangar? My own is not that far away."

Molly mulled it over. "Sure. It's just over there."

The two teens walked in complete silence as they started to walk to their respective hangars.

"So, are you the racer for earth?" Aikka asked, as the earth hangar came into view.

Molly almost stumbled in shock. "No. What gave you that idea?"

"I thought that since you were my age, possibly younger, that the most logical explanation was that you were a pilot." Aikka explained.

"I'm not supposed to be here. My sister and I were taken here by accident when our car was pulled up off the road we were on." Molly spoke. "We're just a _surprise_. Don Wei would throw us out the hangar if he could. He's heartless."

Aikka looked at her. "I am sure he is not that bad." He said. "Just strict."

"You haven't met him." Molly pointed out. "And I hope you'll never have to."

Aikka was about to retort when Molly jogged to her hangar. Turning around at the door, she waved and sent him a smile. "Thanks for walking me home!" She called, before slipping into the 'home'.

Aikka smiled slightly, and was halfway back to his own hangar when he realised that he still did not know her name.

He wondered if she had done that intentionally, and if so, how in the name of Nourasia had he fallen for that trick?

IN THE EARTH HANGAR

Molly smiled brightly at her sister, her previous misery forgotten. The advantage of losing yourself in your past was that you learnt not to worry about the future.

"Hey."

Lucky caught her eye. "Hey yourself. Wanna help me unpack? I found a room we can share, so Jordan gets his own room, and I don't sleep in the pit."

Molly nodded. "Sure."

Lucky led her to the room they'd be sharing, and smirked as the door opened.

"Wow." Molly gasped. "You were busy while I was out!"

So she had. Green pillows and sheets made the beds seem more like their own. A futon was on the ground, with Lucky's doll on the beautifully embroidered pillow. There were two posters on the wall, one of Molly's mother, and one of Lucky's grandmother from when she was young. She had been an international rock star in the forties, given birth to Lucky's mother in the early fifties, and died when Lucky was six.

Her birth name was Hilary Granger, but she'd changed it to Hilzarie Kastoros when she began her music career. She looked almost nothing like Lucky when she was dressed up like she was in the poster, so no one would guess that the two were related. Without the make up, the two were close to being identical, as Lucky's mother had been the spitting image of her own mother but with a lighter colour of pink hair. Lucky was exactly like her mother, but with blonde hair as opposed to her father's brown hair, or her mother's pale pink hair.

Molly looked around the room again, seeing that most of her things were already there, waiting to be put away.

"Lucky, you're brilliant!" Molly yelled happily, hugging her sister.

Lucky grinned back, and began to help her sister put her things away in safe places, while listening to a song her grandmother had written, that Molly had hunted down and bought.

"_If I could see the future_

_I would close my eyes._

_To protect my innocence from the pain_

_I would see."_

The two girls sang, making the room their own. Unnoticed by them, the window was open, allowing their voices to float into the night.

OUTSIDE

Jordan froze as he heard a Hilzarie Kastoros song coming from the window above him. He'd just stepped outside for some fresh air, to reflect on his situation. Now, he was glad he had. Unknowing was his mother's favourite song of all time, and now, he'd found two teenage girls who actually liked the forgotten rock star. She was a good singer for her time, but her songs had an eerie edge to them that made his generation avoid them.

Then, two voices joined Hilzarie's. One was slightly rough around the edges, but just right for the song, and the other was smooth and clear, although not very strong.

"Lucky and Molly." He realized. 'Who knew those two could sing? Scratch that, who knew they could sing so well?'

Closing his eyes, the gunner let the music wash over him and thought of home.

NEARBY

Prince Aikka flinched as a loud, almost obnoxious tune pierced the quiet of the night. It was coming from the hangar he'd just left the earth girl at. He was wondering whether to go and complain when the music softened dramatically, the beat was still the same, but the melody had changed to an almost sad, woeful sound.

He listened to the lyrics intently, and was surprised when two live voices joined the main singer. The voices on their own would have been good, but together the two human voices were almost hypnotic.

"_I'm only human,_

_I'm bound to make mistakes._

_Slip and fall, break down_

_Let me remain ignorant to the trouble ahead._

_Let me go through life as I already do_

_Unknowing of the pain I'll face_

_Unknowing of the loss of grace_

_Unknowing of the grief and woe"_

The two girls sang on, as they made a sanctuary for themselves on a planet they had not expected to come to, in the midst of strangers.

THE NEXT DAY

Molly woke up early, and quickly showered and dressed, before attempting to wake up Lucky.

"Buzz off Moll." Lucky mumbled. "I don't have to go anywhere."

Molly rolled her eyes, Lucky was treating this as a vacation. Then again, for her, it probably was.

All Molly knew was that this was one vacation she wanted to be _over_. Preferably before she slipped up and her former identity became known.

Leaving her slumbering sister behind, Molly crept down the hall, slipping into the main 'hangar' part of the hangar silently. Looking at the Arrow 1, she felt as if she'd jumped into icy water, and the boat was already too far away to pick her up.

"Something's wrong." She whispered, before approaching the racer.

She kept her distance, fear forcing her to stay away. She had just gathered up the courage to move closer when a rough hand covered her mouth and she was forcibly pulled outside.

"What are you doing?" A male hissed. "If Don Wei had seen you, both of you would be on the streets!"

Molly's eyes widened in recognition. 'Jordan? Since when did he care?'

Jordan released her, and she whirled around angrily.

"I'm a mechanic, I wouldn't do something stupid and accidentally damage the racer!" She said, offended. "There's something not right with this!"

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "With **what**?"

Molly opened her mouth then closed it again. "I don't know." She admitted.

Jordan rolled his eyes and walked back into the hangar, leaving Molly to stare helplessly at the ground.

LATER THAT DAY

Molly fidgeted nervously in her seat, causing Lucky to stare at her in concern.

"You okay?" Lucky asked softly.

Molly nodded. "I just have the feeling that something awful's going to happen. Something to do with the race."

Lucky reached out and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could say that you're being silly. But you've never been wrong before."

Molly smirked half-heartedly. "Was that supposed to be comforting?"

"Facts." Lucky corrected. "Feel free to close your eyes at any time. I will."

Molly laughed, and reached out for Lucky's hand. "Thanks." She said, before dropping her hand again.

Lucky smiled brightly, and took her own hand away. "What are sisters for?"

Molly tossed her head and forced herself to watch the race. Rick's opponent was a bio-mechanical creature called Groor, and he had a habit of attacking rather than just plain old racing. Well, that was what Molly could tell from the way he was racing against Rick.

However, Rick and Jordan held their own, and had almost won the race when the feeling from before, of absolute fear and dread, hit Molly like a truck.

"No!" She cried, jumping to her feet.

Several people looked at her in surprise or annoyance, and therefore missed the explosion. The one that knocked both racers to the ground. The one that had come from the Whizzing Arrow.

The one that brought back memories of a little girl on her father's shoulders.


	3. Chapter 3

Molly stared blankly at the wall as Don Wei came into his office. Everyone was there, except Rick. Jordan's turret had escaped most of the damage; it had been the cockpit that was received the brunt of it. The same went for Jordan himself, and Rick. Jordan had come out of the crash with some bruises and a small amount of smoke inhalation, whereas Rick had been sent to hospital on a stretcher.

Jordan hadn't spoken much since, and even Lucky had kept her distance from Molly. That didn't hurt, she was always nearby, letting Molly know that she was there if she was needed.

"Rick won't be able to race for at least a week." Don Wei informed them. "We were able to secure a rematch with Groor, but it's today. I can't convince the judges otherwise."

Lucky opened her mouth to speak, but Don cut her off.

"Therefore, I've decided that Jordan will be our pilot until Rick returns." He said, smiling.

Jordan began to protest, but Don cut him off too. "Don't be modest boy, I'm sure you'll do brilliantly."

The look on Jordan's face said he didn't think so.

Without a word, Molly stood up and walked out of the hangar, patting Jordan on the shoulder as she left.

Sighing, Lucky followed the mechanics and Don to the control room. It would be pointless to go after Molly.

It would however, be funny to see Jordan's first attempt at flying.

"It's okay Jordan, it's natural to be a little nervous." Don Wei assured the young boy.

Stan and Koji instantly began their work.

"Okay Jordan, just push the blue button on your left." Stan instructed, while Lucky looked on in amazement. It took time and practice to be able to talk, type and think about what was going to happen next all at the same time.

"Okay." Jordan said shakily, pressing the red button on his right. Lucky's eyes widened in realization. Jordan was too nervous to think straight, let alone follow the instructions coming his way. She covered her ears and closed her eyes. She couldn't stand to watch what was probably going to happen next.

The Whizzing Arrow 2 flew as if a child was driving, narrowly escaping another crash more times than anyone wanted to count. Molly gaped at it in horror, on her way back to the hangar already. She smiled when it seemed that Jordan had finally learnt how to hover and stay still. Her smiled faded when she realized that that was because he was heading straight towards her.

She ran out of the way, and sprinted towards the hangar in a desperate attempt to avoid either being hit by the racer or burned by its boosters. Jordan finally realized that he was accidentally following her, and pulled the controls towards him, screaming.

"Where are the breaks on this thing?"

Molly looked over her shoulder to see the ship attempt to go straight up in the air. That, she knew, was impossible unless you used a decent ramp or had deliberately picked up speed beforehand.

Since she was looking over her shoulder, she tripped over a rock, and fell hard. As she got up, she realized one very important fact. She was in the (growing) shadow of the left booster. With a scream, she threw herself to one side, just in time to avoid it crushing her. When she opened the eyes that she couldn't remember closing, she saw that she was slap bang in the middle of the two reactors, and that the Arrow was upside down. The cockpit opened, and Jordan half fell half crawled out.

The gunner gave her a shaky grin, all awkwardness from the day before forgotten. "Sorry about that."

Molly stared at him for what seemed like a century, and then burst out laughing. Jordan stared at her, and began to see the funny side himself. There wasn't one, Molly was just shocked that they were both, in fact, alive and unharmed.

Hell, so was he!

They were still laughing when Stan and Koji came out to get the Arrow, Lucky not far behind them.

The three 'young adults' stared at the laughing teenagers, waiting for them to calm down. It took a while, but they did, and tried to regain a little dignity.

"Sorry about that guys." Molly said, brushing imaginary grass off of her skirt. "I guess we were still in shock a bit."

Lucky shrugged. "Seeing as I had my eyes closed, I can't really say anything."

"_You_ were scared? Try being in that thing!" Jordan exclaimed.

"Try being chased by _that thing_!" Molly added.

Lucky rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know. But I'm sure that it was a very good first attempt at flying Jordan."

"It would have been awful if it **was** a first attempt." Jordan said. "I've had lessons. My instructor retired early after teaching me." He grinned, trying to make a joke of it.

"And now he raises small fluffy animals." Stan whispered to Koji.

Jordan deflated slightly, and Molly sent Stan a warning look, scaring him. She'd already worked out that Jordan was closer to her age than anyone else, except Lucky. Therefore, he might end up being an ally when she wanted to go out, maybe even a friend. Maybe.

Don Wei sighed as the mechanic fixed up the Arrow. "This is impossible!" He cried. "We'll have to convince the judges to postpone the race."

Lucky got up from her seat and cleared her throat.

"WHAT?" Don Wei yelled.

"Molly could fly." Lucky stated. "Andy let her test The Comet 79 when it was in the garage. The manager that brought it in said that if she was a little older, he would have hired her on the spot."

"I admire your loyalty to your sister Lucy." Don said. "But I actually know Darren Stagger, and he is one of the harshest managers in the business. He would not have said that."

"He did. I was there." Lucky insisted, ignoring the 'Lucy' comment.

"Nevertheless, I will not allow an outsider, let alone a girl, risk themselves for the team." Don finished. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to the judges."

Koji straightened up. "I'm coming with you."

Stan walked over. "Me too. Rick's accident was sabotaged, there has to be some way we can prove it."

The three males set off, with Jordan starting to follow them hesitantly.

"Can you really fly?" He asked.

Molly looked at the ground. "Only in specially modified Star Racers."

He sighed and ran after the other three. "Hey guys, wait up!"

Lucky stared at her sister. "I hardly call having a rocket seat being temporally grafted on to the controls 'specially modified'."

Molly shot her a glare. "Lets try keep any clues to my identity hidden, hm?" With that, Molly walked out of the hangar, before lying down on the grass nearby.

"Besides, I don't want to end up on the streets." Molly informed the sky.

"Why would you end up on the streets?" A voice asked from behind her.

Molly sat up in shock. "Setis?"

The avatar's assistant nodded. "Yep. So, why would you end up on the streets?"

Molly lay back down. "If I raced today, Don Wei, he'd throw my sister and I out on the streets, even if we won. He told us that we had to obey his orders and earn our keep. He's completely heartless."

Setis stroked his beard. "You sound as if you know him personally."

"Knew." Molly corrected. "Then his wife died, he abandoned his daughter, and started a whole new life complete with a whole new personality, excluding his heart. He isn't even a shadow of who he was. He's nothing more than a monster."

"Dark thoughts for a girl your age." Setis commented.

"These are normal thoughts for a girl my age. I should know." Molly informed him coldly, eyes closed.

"Why so bitter?" He asked.

Molly smirked. "I'm not bitter. I'm a realist."

"You're the strangest realist I've ever met." Setis informed her, laughing.

Molly sat up and whirled around in anger, cursing when she realized he'd vanished. However, she had a perfect view of the Whizzing Arrow 2.

"Flight is the greatest gift of all. It's also called freedom." A voice said in the back of her head. She had a vague memory of being held, and looking at the night sky. "Fly as much as your heart desires my darling."

Molly smiled at the sky as she remembered who'd said that. "Mom…." Shaking herself out of her trance, she looked back at the Whizzing Arrow, and then in the direction the boys had gone.

"Damn it!" She cursed, before giving into temptation.

"Lucky, help me get the chair off!" She called.

Lucky laughed. "What changed your mind?"

"Less talking, more helping!" Molly ordered. "I'll tell you later!"

When they were done, Lucky looked out of the hangar.

"They're coming!" She yelled. "And I think that Don wants to race!"

Molly's eyes widened in horror, and she practically fell into the cockpit in her hurry.

"No way. He can't fly." She said. "And he knows it! Someone must have_ really_ insulted him."

Lucky nodded in agreement, before running out the hangar and towards the stands as fast as she could. She wanted to see every part of the race.

Molly took a deep breath and went through all the customary checks. Time was running short, but that was no reason to get herself killed.

Don Wei was putting on a scarf and helmet, while the other three were trying to talk him out of flying when she finished the checks. She smirked at her father's scarf, so eerily reminiscent of the one she'd worn when she'd escaped boarding school, and then started the engine.

"Molly?" Don Wei yelled, remembering that Lucky had gone to watch the race. "Molly! Get out of there this instant!"

Molly began to move forward.

"Molly listen to me! You are not the earth team pilot!" Molly continued to ignore him. "Jordan stop her!"

Jordan looked around, thinking that there was no way to stop her. She was already flying for crying out loud! Then he saw that she wasn't quite passed the hallway.

He ran up the steps and launched himself on the railing, landing on the cockpit glass and scaring Molly half to death.

"Molly, put this thing down!" He yelled.

Molly grinned and looked him in the eye. "No way Jordan, we can still win this thing! So are you with me or are you with me?" She called through the glass.

Jordan's eyes widened as he saw the 'special' modifications. He grinned back, and slipped through a panel and into his turret.

"Lets go!" He called back.

Molly let out a shout of joy as she hit the accelerator.

However, the steering didn't seem to be working as well as it should have been. It was erratic, jumping slightly when it should have gone smoothly.

It bumped the side of the opponent's racer when it should have hovered.

Molly gulped in fear. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Molly, you are not the earth team pilot! Stop immediately!" Don Wei ordered.

"Too bad, I'm racing!" Molly called defiantly.

The gates dropped, and the two racers were off. Molly knew a fair bit about Groor's flying style from when he raced Rick, but there was that problem with the steering.

"A little help?" She called. "Out of control Star Racer here!"

"Then stop! Your steering system is far too basic for the arrow Two!" Don yelled.

"It worked on The Comet 79!" Molly yelled. "I rushed it, okay!"

"Try the side thrusters. That should fix the steering." Koji suggested.

"Finally!" Molly smiled. "Some good advice!"

She tried it, and was thrilled when it worked. "Koji, you're a genius!"

In the control room, he smiled and adjusted his glasses. "I'm just a humble mechanic."

Jordan gave a sigh of relief when he could actually shoot at Groor without worrying about hitting the wall due to another sudden jerk.

He frowned when it wasn't that easy. The bullets just bounced off of Groor's ship, leaving it unharmed.

"Foolish children." Groor's voice came over the comm. "You can not win against Groor. Do not even try."

Molly wondered whether to be scared or amused at the fact he sounded like Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies, made over a century ago.

"We will win. Yoda would be most disappointed if we didn't." She said back, blandly.

She growled low in her throat as Groor moved ahead. "No you don't!"

"C'mon baby, don't let me down." She pleaded with her Star Racer. "More power…. Increase speed…. WHAT?"

Molly looked in surprise as all the power control buttons on her screen blended into a single circle. "This can't be good."

The Whizzing Arrow Shot forward at such a speed that Molly almost fell off of her Rocket Seat. She vaguely heard Jordan yell as G-force crushed him into his seat.

'Fuel.' Molly thought, panicked. "We're going to run out of fuel!" She yelled, fighting the force that was pushing her backwards.

She just managed to turn off the super speed button when fuel levels were nearing critical. "What on earth was that?"

"The hyperdrive." Stan informed her. "Good thing you stopped when you did. Fuel levels are low. You're going to have to crawl the finish line."

Molly bit her lip as the Whizzing Arrow 2 rested on the beach, without any prompting from her. "If Groor doesn't get us first." She said, looking over her shoulder at the approaching racer.

'He's going to crush us if we don't stop him! How do we stop him?' Molly thought.

She was wondering what to do when her music player activated. "Are those joints on the ship's hull? They don't look very secure." Lucky pointed out, before breaking the connection.

"Thank the Avatar for sisters!" Molly cried, turning the ship around. "Jordan, shoot the joints!"

"What?" Jordan yelled in confusion.

"The joints!"

Jordan complied. "It's not working!"

"Keep shooting! One of them fell off."

Groor's image came up on the communication screen. "Foolish human. I would call you an insect, but that would be an insult to the insects of the universe. Your pitiful weapons can not harm Groor."

'_He looks like Darth Vader too. I should add the name Skywalker to the list of possible surnames.'_ Molly thought. _'I **am** a pilot like Luke… at the moment anyway.' _The things you think when your life is endangered.

Another joint came off. Encouraged, Jordan continued shooting.

"Yesterday, you robbed Groor of a victory. Groor never loses." Groor continued. "Groor will get revenge. and ensure that you will never race again."

'_And my dad is evil… well, he's close enough.'_

"Groor will crush you."

Molly began to get nervous. '_Lucky can be a female Obi-Wan Kenobi. The one who had some serious misgivings about Star fighters. Or Star racers. Urgh. Who cares?'_

Molly yelled in triumph as the final joint fell off Groor's ship, which promptly broke in two, one half on either side of the Arrow. He really had been about to crush them. "Way to go Jordan!"

She turned the Star Racer once more, and crawled over the gate. The crowd was completely silent for several moments. Then, Lucky stood up and clapped. "Molly, you're insane!" She called.

The crowd burst into cheers. Inside the cockpit, Molly shook her head in amusement. "Stan, Koji. Could one of you please bring some fuel? I don't think I can get The Arrow out of here."

"Stan's already on his way." Koji said.

"Good."

When they got back to the hangar, Jordan and Molly both got out of their seats. Standing in front of the Whizzing Arrow Two, they shook hands.

"Nice shooting Jordan." Molly said, grinning.

Jordan grinned back "Nice flying Molly."

Don Wei coughed from the railing. "You two should be very proud of yourselves."

Molly and Jordan shared glances.

'_Maybe he's not so bad_.' Molly thought, hope filling her heart.

"Because that was the worst race I have ever seen!"

Her heart shattered. Lucky froze in the doorway of the hangar, watching the scene in front of her.

"Groor was the better racer from start to finish." Don Wei continued angrily, walking down the stairs.

"We came here as ambassadors for earth. Now we're the laughing stock of the whole competition!" Don said angrily. "I cannot allow this to continue. Molly, you are not part of the team! Your reckless actions have not only humiliated us, but they damaged the Arrow Two, our only Star racer. If we were staying, I would throw you out of the hangar!"

Molly's eyes widened in shock. '_If we were staying_?'

"Jordan! You're a trained gunner, you should have known better! You should have followed my orders!" Don Wei yelled.

"Pack your things. We are going back to earth. I will not be **humiliated** again." Don finished, turning to go up the stairs.

"We won the stupid race!" Molly screamed at his retreating back. "Doesn't that count for anything? If someone else had been the pilot, we wouldn't even have gotten through the race! Koji said it himself, if we had decided to play bumper cars with that guy, we would have gone home by email! I was the best option, why are you so determined to ignore that?"

Don looked back in surprise. '_Who does this girl think she is?_'

"Sir, do you really think that you could have flown the Arrow Two? I'm a mechanic trained to fly, and it was too advanced for me to handle it at first. You haven't had any flight training at all!" Molly continued yelling. "Yes, I messed up a few times, I admit it. No one expects me to be as good as Rick, they're probably shocked that we won at all! They're laughing at Groor, because we trashed his reputation. Not us."

"We're pulling out of the competition. I'm calling the president now." Don said, walking up the stairs.

Molly let out a yell of frustration and kicked a tool box into the wall. "BUT WE WON!" Tears formed in her eyes, and she ran out of the hangar as fast as she could.

"Girls are way too sensitive." Jordan said, watching her run.

Lucky glared at him. "She's been told that she's nothing. How would you react?" She said, before running after Molly.


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, it's not as long as I would have liked, as I wanted to include the bar fight in this chapter. However, it was more fun to end it here, and the chapter was already quite long...**

**Thank you for your comments, keep them coming!**

Lucky stumbled to a halt outside a bar of some sort. Their race had been the last one of the day, and the sky was turning black, which hadn't helped her in her mad chase after Molly.

"Damn." She panted. "I have got to get into shape."

Once she had caught her breath, she walked in. She was ninety percent sure that Molly had gone in here, but she wasn't completely certain. She was a computer geek, not a sprinter. Her idea of strenuous exercise was walking the six blocks to work in the morning, or keeping track of a certain sister.

Searching the room, Lucky spotted the telltale red/black hair at the bar.

"That better not be alcoholic." She said, walking up behind Molly.

Molly turned around. "Goacamoli milk." She said smirking. "I've been drunk once, and it will **never** happen again."

Lucky sat down besides Molly. "I still can't believe you drank Stern's entire supply of sherry. You were eleven!"

"And a half and as drunk as a skunky skunk." Molly smiled fondly at the memory.

"You had to get your stomach pumped." Lucky pointed out.

Molly shrugged. "It was worth it to see the look on her face."

Silence reigned for several long moments. Finally, Lucky sighed.

"So, you gonna be okay?" She asked.

Molly looked at the now empty glass she had in her hand. "Once we're away from _him_, I'll be fine. I just…. I was right. I was the best option." Molly slapped her gloved palm on the desk in frustration. "He's so… Urgh!"

Lucky placed her hand over Molly's in a silent show of support. "I know. I saw."

Then the tense moment was over, and the girls began to talk of other matters, like what to do when they got back to earth, if Jordan's hair was black or blonde, and what the race had been like from their respective points of view.

MEANWHILE IN THE HANGAR, IN DON WEI'S OFFICE

Don Wei, father of Eva Wei (AKA Molly, not that he knew that) set up his briefcase to call the President. He was here as an ambassador for earth, not to allow some… child to go and risk everything with some half cocked plan!

'_But she was right_.' A voice in the back of his mind whispered. '_None of the others can fly. You can't either. Yet you were prepared to risk your life against Groor in a fit of rage. She and Jordan won, even if their methods left a lot to be desired_.'

Don ignored that voice, and activated the communication channel.

The image of the President sitting on his throne-like chair flickered into existence, floating above the briefcase.

"Ah, Don Wei." He greeted. "What news do you have for me? I trust everything is going well."

Don looked at his bandaged arm in silence. He'd lost his temper with Molly and hit his hand against a console. "We have made it through the first round, but barely. It was sheer luck, the irresponsible gamble of a young girl who wasn't even meant to be here!"

Don looked up at the floating image, now confident he was doing the right thing. "It was a hard decision to make, but I'm afraid that without Rick, we have no other choice. The earth team is withdrawing from the competition."

The president shook his head. "That is impossible. This girl, you say she can fly? She's your only choice. You will not withdraw."

Don's eyebrows furrowed. "She's just a child, not a pilot! The only reason she can fly at all is because she's a mechanic who was taught how!"

"She doesn't sound like a child to me, if she's a mechanic." The president pointed out. "And to withdraw at this stage would mean total destruction for the Earth Coalition. The end of more than sixteen billion people."

Don drew back in shock and horror. "You didn't… You didn't mention that when you told me about the race."

The president chuckled. "I only told you what you needed to know at the time." His face turned serious. "The girl will race until your pilot is able to. Goodbye Don Wei."

The connection was cut. Don Wei sank into his chair, defeated.

He was left with no choice. Molly would be their replacement pilot, despite the extensive damage she had caused the Arrow two.

Despite everything.

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Then I remembered something my mom said to me. 'Flight is the greatest gift of all. It's also called freedom. Fly to your hearts content my darling.' And that's why I raced today." Molly said, as the two girls walked back to the earth hangar.

Lucky smiled. "That's so sweet. I can remember my Grandmother saying something a bit like that too."

Molly stopped walking. "Uh oh."

"Hm?" Lucky asked, looking at her sister.

Molly pointed at the closed gate of the hangar.

Lucky followed her finger. "Uh oh."

Both girls simultaneously sat down in the dirt.

"Those jerks." Molly muttered.

Lucky scowled. "I thought that they were better than that."

"Guess we thought wrong." Molly sighed. "Check for Traveller."

Lucky blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"To make sure that they haven't thrown us out." Molly said, bitterly.

Lucky frowned. "They wouldn't…" She said, uncertainly.

"We've known them for less than three days. We can't trust them. I don't know why I did in the first place." Molly said, glaring at the door.

Lucky sighed heavily and pulled a small device that resembled an early twentieth century cell phone out one of the many pockets on her combats. She flipped it open, and the 'keypad' expanded so that it was in fact, a keyboard. A small one, but it had everything that the girls needed.

She typed in the words 'Far from Traveller have we travelled. Lead us to our noble steed.'

The screen lit up, and an arrow pointed to the hangar.

"Forward six feet." Lucky informed the two toned girl. "Left another thirteen."

Molly stood up and ran to check if the Traveller was outside the hangar. She came running back.

"It's inside." She panted.

They went back to staring at the building.

"Our room was the fourth on the left of the corridor on the second storey." Lucky stated.

"Did it have a window?" Molly asked. "I didn't notice one."

Lucky frowned. "There weren't any lights on. The light was coming from a window. I must have put something over it."

"So it'll be a window with green fabric over it, since you would never endanger our posters." Molly concluded.

Lucky looked at the row of windows, imagining how the inside of the building related to the outside.

"It's that one!" She exclaimed, pointing.

Molly looked at it. "The top of the exit would act like a balcony if we climbed out the window." She noted. "If you could give me a boost, I could climb up…."

Lucky shook her head in horror. "There's no way you could climb that high! It's way too dangerous!"

Molly's eyes glinted. "Watch me." She said angrily, taking off her gloves, shoes and socks.

Lucky slapped her forehead as she realized what she had done.

"Molly, don't you dare…" She began as Molly stalked over to the exit. "Seriously, don't…."

Molly ignored her and started climbing, although she found it difficult to ignore the sharp edges that dug into her hands and feet, and even harder to find decent hand and foot holds.

With a grunt of pain, she grasped the edge of the roof, and heaved herself over it, earning herself a pretty nasty graze on her stomach in addition to all her other injuries.

After assessing her injuries (mainly superficial, although it would be slightly painful to walk, use her hands or bend over for a while) Molly carefully limped over to the only open window over the makeshift balcony. She cursed in fluent Japanese when she realized that it was shut, and although it _was _their room, she would have to break in.

She smiled sardonically. "Who knew a few months in hell would come in useful." She muttered.

Taking a few tools out of her skirt bag, she put her time in the law-forgotten land to good use. She wasn't a professional, but it didn't take one to jimmy a window open. It took timing and luck.

Molly sang quietly as the porthole window sprang open. "I rock, I rock, I rock!"

Pulling it open the rest of the way, she pulled herself over yet another ledge. "If only schoolwork was that easy." She mused.

She slipped out of the room, her bare feet making no sound on the cold, metal tiles. She walked down the stairs, flinching as her feet touched the stone that the floor was made of. It was even worse than the metal.

Finally, she reached the switch for the hangar door. If she could get it open, even just a little bit, Lucky could slide through.

Sighing slightly, she grasped the wheel and heaved. Pulling on it with all her might, she managed to turn it enough for the hangar door to open a few inches. Another heave, and Lucky would be able to get through, if she went on her stomach.

Molly sighed in relief as her sister's blonde hair came into view. Lucky threw Molly's things through the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, before rolling through it herself. Molly released the wheel, and the door came down with a thunderous _clang_.

Lucky jumped up from the floor in surprise, and both girls ran up the stairs as fast as they could, completely forgetting about the shoes, socks and gloves. Ignoring the surprised yells of their male housemates, they ducked into their own room and shut the door.

Molly sank down onto her bed. "That was close." She said, peering at her hands.

Lucky lay down next to her. "Yeah."

They were quiet for several long minutes.

"Lucky," Molly said, questioningly. "Why the hell did we run?"

"Because they locked us out. We panicked." Lucky said, sitting up. "We… WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?"

Molly fell off her bed in shock. "Lucky, calm down…. Please…"

"YOU'RE BLEEDING! THAT IS NO REASON TO BE CALM!" Lucky screamed.

Molly looked at her hands, stomach, and feet. "It's not that bad."

Lucky glared at her. "Stay still. Don't move. I'll get the iodine."

Molly gulped. "Okay." She said, in a small voice. She was the more aggressive of the two in the eyes of the world, but in reality, Lucky was tougher **and** scarier, especially when it came to Molly's well being.

Lucky stormed passed the males angrily. "Out of my way." She barked.

"Lucy what is going…?" Don Wei started.

"My **name** is _Lucky_." She yelled. "And Molly is hurt, from having to break into our room!"

Lucky opened the car door, deliberately slamming it against an open box of tools, sending the box and its contents flying. She grabbed the first aid kit out of the Traveller.

"How inconsiderate of me." She muttered sarcastically. "_Way_ worse than locking two defenceless females out so that they can be potentially violently and brutally killed by a sore loser."

The glare she sent them was enough to stop them from trying to explain themselves, or even to try and stop her as she stormed passed them once again. Even Don Wei moved out of her way, without telling her that Molly would be racing the next day.

Molly remained perfectly still as Lucky cleaned her bloody hands and feet, before carefully pulling a few stones from the graze in her stomach. Inside her mind, she was using every swear word she knew. And as a mechanic, she'd learnt a **lot** of swear words.

"I'm sorry Lucky." She mumbled, as Lucky opened the bottle of iodine.

"S'okay. I should have known better than to tell you that you couldn't do something." Lucky said, expressionlessly. "This will sting a little."

Molly whimpered. "I know that it will sting. No little involved."

Lucky smirked in acknowledgement of just how true that was. "Hell no."

Molly closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She **hated** iodine with a passion that was usually reserved for racing.

"To make it up to you, we'll go back to the bar tomorrow. Maybe we'll make some friends." Lucky proposed.

Molly nodded. "Maybe we'll see Aikka."

Lucky instantly went into sisterly-interrogation mode. "Who's Aikka?"

Molly's eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't tell you?"

THE NEXT DAY

Molly had left the hangar early in the morning, and was just leaning against the wall, waiting for her sister to wake up. Usually, it would have been necessary to sit down and wait, because Lucky was a deep sleeper. However, Molly had a plan.

That plan kicked off at approximately seven O'clock earth time.

Molly flinched as one of her favourite songs, Never Say Never, broke the quiet of the morning. Well, broke was an understatement. Shattered, completely destroyed, smashed into a million pieces… Now that was a way to describe the quiet. Even she thought that the music was a bit loud.

And she was **outside** of the Hangar.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN It's longer than most of the other chapters will be. I was planning on adding the next race in here, but I got carried away with the bar scene, which was a nightmare to write. Thanks to all of you who reviewed!**

"That should wake her." Molly smiled, weakly.

She sang along with the chorus, knowing that Lucky was probably deafened by now. Then, as the words 'This is it, now it's all on the line' had played, the music shut off. Molly smiled at Lucky's room, and knew that Lucky had put the music player down, and was about to run out of the room.

There was a splashing sound, meaning that Lucky had fallen over the trip wire Molly had across the door, and into the iron bathtub she'd found the day before, on the way home. She'd gone back for it when she woke up.

There was an angry yell, and then some squelching. The door shut, and a loud kick was heard, to cause the same effect as slamming it. Molly flinched, knowing that Lucky had hurt her bare foot by doing that. Sure enough, Molly swore she could hear a few muffled swearwords when the wind blew the right way. It could have been her imagination though… But if it wasn't, then Lucky had acquired a new vocabulary whilst working at the tattoo parlour.

'Now, the water trick will have forced her to get dressed. By the time she gets down here, she'll be angry instead of homicidal.' Molly thought gleefully. 'And we'll get to spend the day together!'

Despite the fact that the two girls lived together, they only ever spent their evenings together. And they were so tired, that barely counted as bonding. They had to work, and run errands, and a million other things that made both girls wonder how in the name of all that was holy really successful single mothers could cope, since they were two independent young women, and they were about ready to collapse by the end of the day.

Lucky's bandana was tied around her wrist, and her hair hung around her shoulders, the water soaking into her shirt. She fixed Molly with a glare, and a smack upside the head, before beginning to walk to town.

"C'mon Lucky, don't be like that!" Molly cried, running after her. "I just wanted to get out of there before the others woke up!"

Lucky slowed to a stop. "Others?" She questioned, worriedly. She kept her voice calm, as her hearing hadn't quite returned.

Molly froze, and thought back. There had been quite a lot of yelling now that she thought about it…. Though at the time, she'd only been concerned with Lucky, and hadn't really noticed the yelling.

Molly grabbed Lucky's hand and began to pull her towards the bar, running as fast as she could. For once, Lucky didn't complain about the exercise, although Molly wasn't sure whether that was because she was worried about the earth team or because she was out of breath. Either way, it was a good thing.

Molly let go of Lucky's hand as they skidded to a halt outside of the bar's entrance. Lucky fell onto her knees, panting.

"No offence Molly, but this is not turning out to be a great day so far." Lucky gasped, smiling slightly to take the sting out of her words.

Molly laughed, wiping her brow. Once Lucky had recovered, the two girls walked into the bar, unknowingly causing quite a stir.

"That's the girl who beat Groor yesterday." One Scrubb whispered to Rush, the racer for Byrus.

Rush looked over at the young girls. "Which one?" He asked, keeping his voice as low as possible.

"The shortie with the weird hair." The Scrubb informed him, finishing his drink. "Well, back to the market for me."

Rush raised a hand in farewell, and observed the two girls over his glass. The taller one was obviously older, and more conscious of the stares they were receiving. They both walked with a slight manner that Rush had always associated with weary, but happy young women: Mainly the ones that had been forced to grow up too fast.

"That's the earth team's 'back-up' pilot." Another Scrubb said to Canaan, who had wandered in searching for his charge. He had just been about to leave when he had seen Aikka across the room, and had decided to stay for a while, but to leave Aikka to his own devices after wards.

Canaan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew at a glance that the girl was no older than Aikka, possibly quite a bit younger now that he could see her better. The race with Groor had been disastrous, yet the earth team had pulled through due to a last minute strategy. The pilot had been inexperienced, and the craft was too new, yet the girl had been able to pull her team through to the next round. She had potential, that was certain. The only thing that was uncertain was whether it was as a racer or as something else entirely.

"My brother was walking near their hangar after the race yesterday." The Scrubb informed him. "He told me that there was a big fight. The old guy, he's in charge apparently, wants them to pull out the race. Says that the girl humiliated him. That if they were staying, she would be on the street."

Canaan nodded, putting this little nugget of information in the back of his mind. It might come in handy later.

Finishing his Ole Fish soda, he walked out of the room, noting that his charge didn't notice him walking passed the earth girl, despite the fact that he was in Aikka's viewing range.

Canaan chuckled at his charge's unusual lack of observational skills, before leaving for his own hangar. He wondered what it was about the girl that had intrigued Aikka.

Aikka had not seen Canaan; he had only gone into the bar to observe his possible opponents. He had only had one drink, and as far as he was concerned, that was enough. Never again would he drink something from this bar, without seeing it before hand. Aikka really didn't like fish, and he most definitely did not like Ole Fish soda.

From his seat on the second floor, behind the cloth divider, Aikka watched.

Aikka noted that the majority of the racers who came in were confident in their next race, and that the talk about the surprising victory the day before had only increased as time went on. He realized that the talk had ceased for a brief moment, and glanced at the door to see if Toros or someone equally intimidating had come in.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw the earth team's pilot. He didn't realize how stunningly beautiful she could be the day before, simply because it wasn't glaringly obvious. He'd been distracted by her facial markings and unusual clothing. The second time he'd seen her, it had been getting dark, and he'd only been interested in getting to know her, and possibly finding out why she had called him Aikka.

Today, as the red in her hair caught the sunlight coming in through the open door, she looked like one of the **akutenshi,** the dark angels, in the stories his mother had told him as a small boy. More specifically, she looked like the one who had fallen from the favour of the Lord of Purity, and sought refuge in the mortal plane of existence, eventually redeeming herself and living out her mortal life on some unnamed planet. Her black top covered her arms and stomach, hanging loosely off of her slender figure. Her trousers were the same as yesterday, as were her shoes. Her gloves seemed lighter than they had been the day before, but only slightly.

Then the door has swung shut, and her hair blended neatly into the dullness of the bar, and he forgot the feelings of awe and attraction that he had felt only a moment before. However, although the black and red headed girl blended into the bar as if she had always been there, the same could not be said for her companion. Her hair had almost blinded him when the sun had touched it as his eyes slid over her to the pilot, but now it stood out more than ever. Strangely enough, her dark grey vest top seemed to be wet, as was her hair.

Neither girl seemed to notice the lull that had followed after they entered, or that the noise had quadrupled as they walked towards the bar.

"Hello." The blonde girl greeted. "I'd like an Olenday Soda, and my sister will have some Goacamoli milk."

The bartender nodded. "Do you have the money for it?" He asked.

She nodded and threw some coins on the table.

The bartender snatched it up greedily, and made their drinks hastily. Aikka wondered at the significance behind the amused looks that the girls shared.

Molly suppressed a giggle as the bartender snatched their money up, as if he was afraid they'd take it back.

"Sammy used to do that." She whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

Lucky threw her an amused glance. "I remember." She said, equally quietly.

They both sat down at the bar, and they began to talk about what they would do once they got back to earth.

"I'll have to work at Wei racing until James can go back to work." Molly pointed out. "So we'll have to find a place to stay."

Lucky nodded. "There's bound to be a homeless centre, but I don't fancy that. Our belongings are always in danger."

"So we'll have to stay in a youth hostel. It's cheap, we usually get a room and locker to ourselves, and we always get a locker each even if we're in a dormitory." Molly concluded.

"But if they don't have a youth hostel?" Lucky questioned. "What will we do then?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know. We'll figure out something else if it comes to that. What will we do after we leave Tokyo?"

Lucky sank deep into thought. Molly turned her attention to her milk. This was how they missed the silence.

Groor had entered the bar for some reason. As a biomechanical being, it probably wasn't for the food or drink. He was barely through the door when he saw the earth girls. His eyes narrowed, he recognised Molly immediately.

Huffing, he began to stalk over to her.

As Molly heard the sound, she turned around to see Groor on his way over. She grabbed Lucky's arm and prepared to run, but there was nowhere to go. Groor was about eight metres away from them when an extremely drunk lizard type species popped in front of him, slurring its words.

"Hey Groor!" He called, waving his eight arms. In one hand, he held a bottle. "At least no one can say you lack courage." It turned around to face the bar. "I mean, being here after being humiliated by those kids." It laughed.

Most of the bar kept their eyes on the pressure valve on Groor's chest. The red was steadily growing.

"Any other racer would have hidden in a very deep hole!" It continued laughing.

Steam started pouring out of Groor's vents. "If I were to dig a very deep hole, it would be for your corpse!"

It finally realized something was wrong and turned around, just as one of Groor's tentacles sent him flying into a wall.

Molly flinched. She and Lucky had slipped away during this exchange, but there was no way they could get to the door without Groor catching them.

And with their distinctive hairstyles, they couldn't just blend into the background. Molly looked around, thinking. There had to be a way to escape, there _**had** _to be.

'There is!' Molly realized. 'It'll take a miracle or two, but it should work!'

Molly shoved Lucky behind a screen, and motioned for her to stay there, out of sight. Taking a deep breath, she made a run for the door.

She let out a harsh scream of pain as Groor's tentacles collided with her stomach, sending her into the wall whilst simultaneously causing her fresh pain on top of her graze.

Lucky flinched, and gritted her teeth. She clamped her hands over her ears and knelt on the floor, curling up slightly to protect herself from her sister's pain. Molly had a plan of some kind; Lucky knew that she couldn't let herself ruin that.

Molly pushed herself up from the ground and into a sprint. However, this time it was to the rafter in front of her. She had noticed that there were several spikes running up it for some reason. Once again, her time in the law-forgotten land came in useful as she shimmied up the rafter and slid under the cloth divider.

She smiled and nodded at its occupant without really seeing who it was, and jumped to her feet. Aikka watched after her in amusement as she made a break for the window, and hesitated for a moment. If she landed even the tiniest bit wrong, she would be dead; either instantaneously breaking her neck, or being unable to run away from Groor.

Then she saw a certain dual haired gunner walking down the street, to the bar. Grinning at her luck, she let out a piercing whistle. She hoped that Jordan's military training would save them both, being all to aware of the fact that Groor's tentacles were destroying the floor beneath her feet.

EARLIER

After discovering that both Lucky and Molly had run away shortly after the commotion, Don Wei sighed. Those two girls…. What were their parents thinking in letting them have a car! They were irresponsible and impulsive and… teenagers! (Keep in mind that Don Wei doesn't know that the girls 'don't have parents'.)

Seeing Jordan already up and dressed, and sitting on the stairs drinking a steaming cup of coffee, Don asked him where his 'teammate' had gone.

"You mean Molly?" Jordan questioned, monotonously. "I have no idea. She was outside when Lucky left, and they both just ran off."

Don Wei's face contorted in anger. "She must be found, immediately!" He barked.

Jordan turned around in surprise. "Huh?"

Don swallowed his anger. "We have a race to prepare for, do we not?" He said, somewhat robotically.

Jordan's face brightened in understanding and happiness. "Are you serious?" He asked, standing up to face Don properly. He was surprised that he was shorter than the greying racing manager, but then realized that Don was a step above him.

"Thank you very much." Jordan grinned. He handed Don his coffee. "Here. I'll find her right away sir."

Don watched the gunner dubiously as he ran down the metal stairs. On the last step, Jordan stood on one of Molly's discarded gloves from the day before, and fell into the fuel storage tank. Don winced instinctively, but Jordan just peeled himself off its glassy surface and continued running.

'Just like Adrian would do.' Don thought of his pilot, the one he'd had before…. Maya. His face hardened once more.

Jordan searched the area as best as he could, unsure of where a teenage girl would go on a planet that she'd only been on for one day. As he walked down a street, he heard a piercing whistle. He looked around to see Molly waving at him frantically from a window.

"Help!" She yelled.

Jordan ran to the window, just as Molly decided it was high time to jump out of it. Jordan barely managed to catch her as she fell, and even though he did catch her, it was by leaping through the air and catching her mid air, before rolling, managing to protect them from the impact of the fall.

"Are you completely crazy?" He demanded.

Molly decided to answer that particular question later. "Groor's a sore loser, and he's in the bar. He's after me."

Jordan didn't even have time to put her down before Groor proved this by bursting through the bar wall, the wood splintering everywhere. Molly let out an involuntary (and extremely uncharacteristic) scream of fright. Jordan didn't even pause to take in his surroundings before he set of at a run, causing Molly to throw an arm around his neck to balance herself. It seemed like an age of running before Molly realized where he was running, and Groor hadn't gotten any further away. If anything, he had gotten slightly closer. His tentacles meant that he didn't run, his movements were more like Dr Octopus in the Spiderman cartoons.

"The hangar?" She called gently, not wanting Jordan to miss it in the wind, but not wanting Groor to hear her either.

Jordan nodded slightly, the sweat on his forehead gleaming. Molly tightened her grip ever so slightly, praying to whatever great force ran the universe to protect Lucky. She could not lose her sister, not even for her own freedom, and definitely not for her father.

Jordan didn't dare look back to see how far they'd ran, but he was tiring and he had a sinking feeling that Groor hadn't run off into the horizon since he had first started running. It was as the lake came into view that an idea formed. It wasn't like they had a ton of options at that point anyway.

Molly's eyes widened slightly. "The lake?" She called.

"He might rust." Jordan answered briskly. He kept running, and jumped into the lake. Molly flinched as he released her seconds before they hit the water, and she was unable to prepare herself to swim away.

Because she had to turn herself around before she could even start swimming, Groor was able to grab her around the waist and yank her from the water.

She flinched as the cold metal cut through her shirt, not only aggravation her injuries but adding to them.

"Yesterday, you robbed Groor of a victory that was rightfully his." Groor informed her, angrily. "Groor never loses."

"You… said… that… yesterday!" Molly said through clenched teeth. She let out a pained yelp as Groor tightened his grip.

"Groor will crush you." He said, coldly.

Molly had already resigned herself to death, when she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.

She didn't have time to look, as the person jumped towards Groor, wielding a knife. The tentacle holding her was cut, and Molly fell to the ground.

"This is none of your concern!" Groor hissed at the newcomer.

"It is when you are attacking beings inferior to you!" A voice snapped back.

Molly was too dazed to bother insulting her 'saviour', so she didn't bother telling him that she was inferior to nobody. Instead, she focused her energy on shrugging out of the metal tentacle.

"I am twice as strong as you!" Groor yelled in anger.

Molly had just scrambled out of the tentacle and run a few metres away when a familiar voice answered.

"But I am twice as agile!" Aikka said, almost smugly.

She turned around to see the battle, backing up slightly as she did so. Aikka was dodging Groor's remaining tentacles with ease, cutting several of the pipes that contained Groor's air supply until there was only one left. Groor was knocked to the ground, and Aikka placed his dagger, ready to cut the tube leading to what was presumably Groor's mouth.

"Do you surrender?" Aikka asked, his hand steady.

Groor agreed, and once Aikka released him, Groor stormed off, humiliated by yet another 'child'.

"Thanks." Molly spoke for the first time, startling Aikka. "Although I'm a little insulted that you think I'm inferior to Groor."

Aikka smiled dryly. "I do not. I was speaking in general."

"About human's and their incompetence?" Molly shot back, not really angry, but not knowing what else to say.

"Do not make assumptions. I was speaking of your politicians in comparison to those of Groor's homeworld." Aikka threw in, remembering a lesson about earth.

FLASHBACK

"Earth's people are cynical to a fault." King Lao informed him. "Their politicians are a representation of them, yet they wear a mask. They can be chosen over and over again by the people, yet still held in contempt."

"Why?" A younger prince Aikka asked in confusion. "Their people must like them, if they… what is the word? Vote for them?"

King Lao nodded. "I believe it is so that when things go wrong, they can feel justified in saying that they never trusted their president anyway."

END FLASHBACK

It worked. Molly grinned, tossed her head and laughed. "Okay, so maybe I can forgive you. Thanks for saving my life."

Aikka smiled at the girl. "I do not mean to be presumptuous, but doesn't that mean, by the tradition of earth, that you 'owe me one'?"

Molly's eyes narrowed. "It depends on what you want." She said, her body going tense.

"Your name." Aikka said simply. "Please."

Molly relaxed. "Most people call me Molly."

Jordan pulled himself out of the water. "HEY, MOLLY!" He shouted. "WE'RE RACING TODAY!"

Molly's face lit up like a beacon, before falling. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" She yelled back.

"I'M SERIOUS!" Jordan replied.

Molly realized that he was telling the truth. "It was nice talking to you Prince Aikka. I'll see you around. Hopefully under better circumstances." She smiled, before setting off at a run back to the Earth team hangar.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN sorry for such a short chapter, but I couldn't squeeze anymore out of the episode. I spent a while trying! Man, this barely counts as a drabble.**

Still smiling, Molly observed her opponent. His ship didn't look like much, but that was no reason to think it'd be an easy race.

Less than two minutes later, she was starting to think that it would be impossible.

"Molly, the race is fixed!" Don shouted into his mouthpiece.

"Ya think?" Molly snapped back. 'OK, if we can't beat him by racing, there has to be another way.'

Grinning, she opened communication channels. "Nice flying Flint. Still, the odds are in your favour… Being a local and all." She smiled, hinting heavily.

"Yes, I know the land far better than any foreigner ever could!" Flint bragged.

'He doesn't know the race is fixed? How can anyone be so stupid!' Molly thought incredulously.

"Bet you wouldn't be flying so well if the traps were going off on you instead of me!" She snapped, unable to hide her rage.

It worked better than anything she could have thought of. Flint bragged that he could win the race with his eyes closed, and proceeded to try and do so. They entered a maze that was constantly changing due to heavy gateways shutting then lifting, and when the two ships exited, the Arrow was the only one intact. Flint and Marcus's ship, weakened by Jordan's earlier shooting, fell apart in mid air and the 'engine' (huge caterpillar-like creatures on wheels) grasped onto the pilot and gunner as they fell.

Molly whooped as she won her second race. Flying back to the hangar, she hoped Lucky would be there.

Just as she set down the Whizzing Arrow 2, an excited squeal broke the quiet. "That was great Molls! And you too Jordan!"

Lucky hugged them both as they stepped out of their seats. Molly was the first to notice Don Wei at the top of the stairs, a strange expression on his normally angry face.

"Sir?" She asked, hesitantly. "I'm sorry about the damage to the Whizzing Arrow Sir, but I'll help Stan and Koji and it'll be as good as new by to…" She trailed off as she realized he was happy.

"Don't worry about the Arrow Molly. You did a fine job today, both of you!" He said, motioning to her and Jordan. The scariest thing was, he was smiling.

"Now, get some rest. We've got a big day ahead of us." He grinned, walking away.

"What's up with Don Wei? D'you think he got a concussion while we were away?" Jordan asked out of the corner of his mouth.

Lucky grimaced. "Unfortunately no."

"Lucky!" Molly admonished, trying not to laugh.

The blonde shrugged. "He got a message over those headphones of his. My money's on Rick getting better."

Molly nodded, trying to hide her disappointment. She'd enjoyed her short time as a racer, but if Rick was coming back then it was time to hand over the Whizzing Arrow III.

Even though she really, really didn't want to.


End file.
